The Unexpected
by Lyssa117
Summary: It has been a few years since the Battle of Hogwarts. Hermione has lost the people most important to her, and has come to work as a professor at Hogwarts in an attempt to heal. Story is much better than summary, please read and review!
1. The New Professor

_**Author's Note**_: _**Background**_**: This story takes place about a few years after the Battle of Hogwarts. Ron was killed in that battle when he pushed his brother Fred out of the way and the wall fell on him instead. Hermione left for Australia to retrieve her parents after the battle, but found that she was unable to reverse the Memory Charm. When she returned, broken hearted, to England, she was offered a job teaching Charms at Hogwarts. I don't own Harry Potter, any of the characters, or storylines.**

_The screams woke her up, just like they did every night. Hermione sat straight up in her bed, sweaty hands clutching her quilt. It always took a moment before she realized that the screams were coming from her own mouth. She gasped for air, twisting and flailing on the mattress, until she felt the last image of her nightmare fade from the room. And then she was alone in the darkness, the night quiet save the pounding of her still racing heart._

"Good morning Hermione!" A singsong voice called out cheerily as she wearily made her way into the familiar building.

"Good morning Winky." Hermione greeted the house elf. It had taken Winky a long time to agree to address her by name, but now the elf used it freely. Small steps, she had to keep reminding herself. Small steps.

"Oh dear! You haven't slept well, have you?" Winky's brown eyes were filled with worry as she took in Hermione's appearance. Reminding herself to stop in at her office and apply some magic concealer before her first class, Hermione smiled wryly.

"I'm fine Winky. Really."

The elf was not convinced. "Hermione...don't you think...it would be better to live here? In the castle? You might have better luck keeping away your demons if you slept within these walls..."

"I'm fine!" Hermione snapped, her tone harsher than she had intended. She recovered quickly and put a hand on Winky's shoulder. "I just stayed up too late...correcting papers. I'll be okay, really." Winky shrugged and attempted a smile.

"If you need anything..."

"I'll be sure to let you know." Hermione finished, and hurried up the stairs to her office. She knew that everyone thought she was being silly, keeping her small apartment when luxurious living quarters were provided within Hogwarts for professors, but she was not ready to make that move. Too much had happened within these walls...too much had been taken from her. She didn't mind working here, in fact it was therapeutic and gave her mind a much needed challenge, but there were days when she was thankful for her own space far away from the memories of what had taken place here.

"Hi Hermione." Neville passed her on the stairs. He never commented about how she looked or what had happened, but he couldn't hide the concern in his eyes. Hermione stopped and smiled at her friend.

"How are you today, Neville?"

"I'm good...how about yourself? Do you need anything?" He started to put a hand on her arm, and then changed his mind and slowly drew it back.

"No, I don't think so." Hermione answered briskly. "Possibly a good cup of coffee, but I can conjure one up in my office. Anything going on today that I should know about?" She managed a smile as she tried to steer the conversation to work matters and off of herself.

"Yes!" Neville brightened. "Don't you remember? The new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is starting today! I can't wait to find out what the big secret is, I don't know why none of us were allowed to find out who it is."

"That's right!" Hermione answered, leaning against the bannister. "The only thing I can think of is that its someone famous or high profile and Professor McGonagal didn't want to disrupt everything by making it public."

"Well, I know its not Harry Potter." Neville replied with a wink. "I'm sure you would know about that, right?" Hermione lowered her eyes. "I haven't kept in touch in touch with Harry as much as I should have." She said softly.

"Oh." Neville's smile faded and he sounded stricken. "I'm...I'm sorry Hermione...I thought..."

He took a step back and wrung his hands. Hermione forced the smile back on to her face.

"Neville, its okay...please don't be so uncomfortable...I'm fine..." She wondered if she should create a charm that would keep repeating that phrase so she didn't have to.

"I know you are." Neville said, looking right into her eyes. "But...Hermione...I don't want to be the one..." He stopped and looked as though he had said too much. Hermione laughed nervously.

"Don't worry Neville, nothing you say is going to send me back to St. Mungo's. I spent some time in that...that ward...because I was having trouble facing everything that happened during the war, but I'm all right now. Really. Its behind me. I work here, which is a big step forward for me. Please don't worry, I'll let someone know if I can't deal with things." She did not wait for his answer and hurried up the stairs. She knew that Neville was probably wondering why she was going this way, taking the long way around, but even though she was able to be in the castle, having to go past where IT had happened was just too much.

Hermione turned the last corner and headed for the far stairs that would take her down to her office. She knew that if she told Headmistress McGonagal that she couldn't walk through THAT corridor, the Headmistress would change her office immediately, but her pride was preventing her from doing that. Hermione had never liked to show weakness, and now was no different. The extra walk was good for her, and she left it at that.

She was lost in thought about her day's lesson and collided with someone coming up the stairs.

"Hey there..." A pair of strong arms caught her and kept her from falling.

"Thank you." Hermione felt her face redden. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going..."'

"So in other words, some things never change?" Hermione looked up in shock at the familiar drawl.

"You! What are you doing here?" She stared at him in disbelief. Draco Malfoy grinned and leaned arrogantly against the wall.

"I could ask the same of you, Granger. I work here...you're looking at the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

"What?" Hermione's eyes opened wide in horror. "You? You're the new teacher? What is the Headmistress thinking? Hiring a former Death Eater?" Draco shrugged and gave her a wink.

"Thanks for the warm welcome, Granger. I take it you work here now, too?"

"Of course I do." She replied haughtily. "What someone like you could possibly offer the students here, I can't imagine." She started to move past him, but he blocked her way. Hermione whipped out her wand faced him, eyes flashing angrily. "How dare you Malfoy! Get out of my way!" Draco, who had also taken out his own wand, shook his head.

"Not until we get something straight, Granger. Whether you like it or not, I do work here now and you will treat me with respect."

"You haven't earned it, you disgusting Death Eater scum!" She hissed back at him. Her body was shaking with anger, but on some strange level, the emotion felt comforting. She had been keeping everything inside for so long...trying to stay in control of herself for so many months...the pressure had reached an apex and was ready to burst. Draco eyed her with disgust and moved to the side.

"Calm down, Granger. Wouldn't want to land yourself back in the crazy ward, now would you? Maybe I will speak to our Headmistress about the stability of some of the staff here..." Hermione fought for control, whispering a calming spell to herself. She felt the familiar soothing waves settle over her.

"Just stay out of my way, Malfoy." She moved past him and went quickly down the stairs, not stopping until she was safely in her office. She slammed the door behind her, locked and soundproofed it with a hastily spoken spell, and finally allowed herself to sink to the floor and weep. 


	2. In the Staff Room

Hermione shut her office door, locked it behind her, and hurried toward her first class. She had had barely enough time to compose herself and apply the necessary charms that erased all evidence that she had been crying. Satisfied that she appeared calm, cool, and in control of her emotions, Hermione entered the classroom just as the bell rang. Most of her students were already seated, and she was pleased that they stopped talking immediately when they saw her. She gave them a quick smile, and then moved to the front of the room to take attendance and start the day. She had a fun Cheering Charm activity planned, and she forced herself to focus on that and push thoughts of Draco Malfoy to the furthest corners of her troubled mind.

OooOOOooooOOOoooOOO

Not thinking about Malfoy may have been easy during class, but the rest of the day was a challenge. The entire school seemed to be buzzing about the new professer. From what she overheard, many of the students thought his first class had been exciting and they were looking forward to more.

By the time 5:00 rolled around, Hermione's head was starting to pound. She always thought it was ironic that with all of their wonderful capacity for magic, the Wizarding World had never quite gotten around to curing a headache as well as a plain old Muggle Ibuprofen. In fact, she strongly suspected that Advil was a key ingredient in Madame Pomprey's headache potions.

Massaging her temples, Hermione made her way to the staff room. She knew it wasn't good to isolate herself, but she just wasn't in the mood for the noise and general clamor in the dining hall tonight. A quiet dinner in the little used staff room was just what she needed before making her way home for the evening.

She went inside and was surprised to see someone else sitting at the worn table. She hardly ever saw her colleagues use this room, it was mostly reserved for grabbing a quick snack or a spare robe out of the closet.

"Well, well, well. Look who's going to keep me company." Hermione's heart sank as she realized who it was. Without a word to him, she turned to leave. She would head down to the kitchen and get something to take home. But Draco was apparently not going to make it that easy for her. "What, leaving so soon? Were those the magic words? Too bad I didn't try that when we were in school...seemed like every time I turned around you were there along with Potter and the Weasel..." He stopped in mid sentence. Hermione froze at the doorway, the anger from earlier in the day coursing through her. She turned around slowly to face him, ready to whip out her wand and wipe the arrogant grin off of his face once and for all. But when their eyes met, she was surprised to see that Draco looked...almost embarrassed. She would have even ventured remorseful, if she didn't know him so well. Draco ran his hands through his blonde hair, suddenly uncomfortable. "Ah...yeah...that was a long time ago, huh? Look Granger, why don't you sit down...I was leaving anyway..." He looked away from her and got to his feet. Hermione unclenched her fingers slowly from the wand within her robe and felt her anger subside slightly.

"It's okay, Malfoy, you don't have to leave on my account. We work together now, I suppose we should learn how to share the staff room without arguing."

"Yeah, that would be a good start." He smiled, and Hermione was surprised to find herself noticing that he did have a very nice smile, when it wasn't mixed with his usual self satisfied smirk.

"How was your first day?" She asked politely, telling herself that it was a normal question that she would have asked any new professor. Draco's smile widened and he threw his hands up.

"Well...all I can say is that if I gave my teachers half as much trouble as some of these kids gave me today, then I guess I'm getting my due. Can't believe some of the mouths on them! I was ready to give one class a first hand demonstration of the Cruciatus Curse..." Again he stopped, looking horrified. "I...uh...didn't actually mean that..."

Hermione found herself laughing out loud, and she marveled at the sound. It had been such a long, long time since she had had anything to laugh about.

"Malfoy, its okay, that's not anything that every new teacher hasn't thought at one point or another! But if its any consolation, the students all seem to really like you...whatever you DID do in reaction to their behavior must have earned their respect...I don't think you'll have any more trouble."

He eyed her ruefully, and then returned the smile. "Yeah? I hope not."

"What did that one class do, anyway?" Hermione inquired, curious.

Draco hesitated for a moment, and then responded. "It wasn't really the whole class, more like a couple of trouble makers. They said that I was a Death Eater and they shouldn't have to sit in my class and show me respect."

"Oh." Hermione looked down at her hands, feeling her face redden.

"Funny, it wasn't the first time today that I heard that..." She looked up in horror, but was relieved to see a teasing glint in his eye. "Granger, relax...I knew when I took the job that I was going to have to face my past, and get through moments like that. I saw it as a teachable moment and told my class some stories about how I became a Death Eater, and why, and how my family came back on the right side again eventually. Guess they thought I was somewhat "cool" after that."

"Leave it to you, Malfoy, to use everything that happened in the war to bolster your popularity!" Hermione felt the anger bubble up to the surface again and threaten to overtake her. She wasn't really angry at the man sitting across from her, but the strong emotions inside of her had reached their breaking point. Draco stared at her for another moment, and then got to his feet again.

"Okay, I can take a hint...I'll bid you "good night," Granger. Looks like you're the one still living in the past." He came around the table and then was standing directly behind her. Hermione gripped the edge of the table, desperately trying to keep herself under control. She needed this job...

Draco leaned over her, and she felt his breath against her cheek. A sudden calm rushed over her, and she wondered vaguely if he had put a Calming Charm on her. "I'm going to give you a word of advice, Granger...take down that wall you've put up around yourself...its doing just as much damage as the one that killed your boyfriend." With that, he swept from the room, leaving Hermione's answering gasp of horror hanging alone in the air.

**A/N...Just when they were starting to get along! But we need a little conflict to keep things interesting...thanks for reading!**


	3. Coming Apart

Hermione sank down on to the couch in her small apartment and closed her eyes. The exhaustion and strain that had been building up within her for the past couple of weeks was getting to an almost unbearable level. She was able to get through her days, teach her classes, put on the show…but she could feel that it was all coming to a head. She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. She groaned softly as she thought about what this meant, that she was going to have to go back to St. Mungo's…she gripped her fists involuntarily as Malfoy's smug face swam before her eyes. Oh, how he would gloat…how he would laugh at her…tears tingled in the corners of her still closed eyes and then escaped, working their way down her cheeks. Hermione lowered her head into her hands, knowing that she couldn't fight what she was feeling anymore. Malfoy's face was suddenly replaced by Ron's, and the pain became unbearable. She missed him so much…she should have done something, anything, that night to save him. A cry of grief resounded throughout the apartment, and Hermione had the presence of mind to quickly cast the Muffliato spell before she sank to the floor and gave in to her pain. She pounded on the floor and screamed as the tears coursed down her face, but the only one who could hear was herself.

OOOOOOOooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOOOOooooo

Hermione felt as though she were dragging herself to the castle's front door the following morning. She had to force herself to take hold of the heavy front door and pull it open. Her feelings about Hogwarts were so conflicted these days…this was the last place that Ron had drawn breath, had walked, had fought, had kissed her, had _lived. _That alone drew her here, made her _need_ to be here, crave being within the castle walls in an almost obsessive way. Headmistress MacGonagal did not know that it was against the advice of the Healers that Hermione come here to work. They had strongly encouraged her to apply to one of the other magical schools, telling her that with her skills and experience she could get a job anywhere. But this was where she needed to be. Even though it wasn't getting any better, even though she now saw Ron in other corridors, in classrooms, in the Great Hall, on the staircases. Always looking at her, an accusatory expression on his face. The last time this had happened, she had actually cried out "I'm sorry, I should have protected you, I should have saved you!" and then quickly looked around in horror to make sure no one had witnessed her outburst. She was intelligent enough to know that she was punishing herself, subjecting herself to this self-induced penance she felt she deserved, but whenever she was away from the castle, her anxiety only grew. She didn't belong in the world of Muggle London and she didn't belong in the Wizarding community either. For better or worse, Hogwarts was where she had to be, the only place she could survive.

She tried to avoid Malfoy as much as possible, not liking the way he looked at her. It was almost as though he could see through the spells she painstakingly applied, could see the shadows under her eyes, could see the hidden weight loss, could see the Hermione was slowly fading away. She had to grit her teeth every time she overheard the students talking about what a great teacher he was, how much they were enjoying his Defense classes. She had almost flown into an uncontrollable rage when she actually heard a student comparing him to Dumbledore. As it turned out, the only thing the student noticed were Hermione's hands shaking, which she quickly attributed to the little known after effects of a recent Charm. She had forced a smile and left that hallway immediately, trying not to hear the mocking whispers that followed her departure.

On this particular day, she made her way to her office, thankfully not seeing any visions of Ron lurking around the corners, to get ready for her class. She spread all of her notes and materials out on her desk and tried to lose herself in the day's lesson.

She was just in the process of gathering up everything and putting a "touch up" spell on her face when there was a knock on her door.

She took a deep breath and opened the door with a wave of her wand. A nervous looking third year student stood at the threshold. "Professor Granger? I'm sorry to bother you, but I was asked to deliver this to you." He held out a folded piece of parchment. Hermione recognized Neville's magical seal holding it closed. She thanked the student and turned away to read the message. Neville wanted to meet with her, to discuss the progress of one of their mutual students, on the seventh floor immediately. Hermione sighed. She had only about ten minutes before her class started. That gave her only a few minutes to meet with Neville. She decided to go, because Neville was one of her only true friends. She decided that she would have the discussion for those few minutes, and then reschedule if they still had more to talk about. Grasping her class materials, she left her office and locked the door behind her with a spell.

The corridor on the seventh floor was unusually quiet. She had expected to see students rushing to their next class, but there was no one.

"Neville?" She called uncertainly, and then "Oh, there you are" as a figure appeared from around a corner. She moved closer, and then stopped short. "You!" It wasn't Neville that was standing there, it was Malfoy. Looking as though they had had a prearranged meeting. Hermione gripped her wand tightly. "Where is Neville? He asked me to meet him up here." Instead of looking confused, Malfoy smiled.

"He had an emergency with a student. He asked me to wait for you and explain. He told me quickly what he was meeting with you about, and as it turns out, I need to discuss that particular student with you as well." He indicated that she should walk with him. Hermione reluctantly joined him.

"I have a class in a few minutes…"

He waved his hand. "Don't worry, I won't take up too much of your time."


	4. The Room of Requirement

It wasn't until they had paced the same corridor three times that Hermione suddenly realized where they were. She gasped and turned to face Draco. "But why are we…?"

Without waiting for her to finish, he abruptly grasped her arm and pulled her through the door that had appeared on the wall. Hermione tried to resist going into the room, but the suddenness with which this change had happened, combined with Draco's strength, were too much for her. When they were both over the threshold, Draco let go of her and whipped out his wand. Hermione had barely wrapped her fingers around her own wand when his cry of "Expelliarmus!" filled the room.

"No!" She screamed, fingers closing on nothing as her wand flew away from her and into his waiting grasp. Without giving him a chance to gloat, Hermione turned and ran for the door. As she reached it, it melted away into the stone wall. Hands desperately clawing at the unyielding stone, Hermione sank to her knees, and then the floor. Breathing heavy, she crouched, tense and waiting.

When nothing happened after several long minutes, Hermione lifted her head and slowly got to her feet. Whatever Malfoy had planned for her, she was going to meet it head on. She tried to force herself to be brave despite the helplessness that threatened to overcome her. "Please give me back my wand." Her voice sounded calmer than she felt. Malfoy had a strange expression on his face. Instead of the triumph she had been expecting, he seemed almost…sad.

"Not yet." His voice was soft.

"Then let me out of here!" This time her tone was more shrill, a note of the panic she was feeling sneaking in.

"Not yet." He repeated. When she turned and began pounding on the wall where the door had been, he added "It won't open. Not until we're done here."

"Done?" Hermione turned to face him again, the fear impossible to keep hidden. "What do you mean by "done? Why did you trick me into coming here?"

"I want to help you, Hermione." He smiled at her sadly. "I know…what you're going through. I was there too. This is the only way. You've been trapped inside of yourself since the war ended, trying to hide from your feelings."

Hermione felt her sense of horror mounting. "What are you going to do?" Her voice was barely a whisper, and it was all she could do to remain on her feet.

"You need to let it out now. Here, where it's safe. Where no one will see. I came her myself, many times. It's a big part of how I was able to heal."

Hermione shook her head. "I have a class soon. I'll be missed…Neville will find me…he can work this room better than anyone…"

Malfoy smiled and there was a trace of the old arrogance. "I'm afraid I must disagree with you on that point. Longbottom hasn't spent the _time_ with this room that I have." There was an emphasis, slightly boastful, on the word "time," and Hermione waited for him to continue. The more he talked, the better the chance she could get her wand away from him somehow. "This spell is of my own invention….very complicated and dangerous. It took me many years to finally get it right. I don't really know how to explain it, since nothing like this has existed before now…I suppose you could call it a mixture of a Freeze Charm, the unique magic of the room, and the substance inside of a Time Turner…"

Hermione stared at him, wide eyed. "But there are no Time Turners…they were destroyed…"

Draco shook his head. "My family had one. Passed down through the generations, kept in a secret chamber. Not even the Dark Lord knew of its existence." In spite of her predicament, Hermione felt the familiar anger creeping in.

"Of course the Malfoys would have something like that! And you've been biding your time, waiting for your opportunity to use it against me! What are you going to do, Malfoy? Send me back in time? Finish me off in our third year, right after I slapped you? She bore down on him, brown eyes flashing. A couple of red sparks flew out of her wand, still held in Malfoy's fist.

Startled, he almost dropped her wand, but quickly recovered. "Protego!" He shouted, waving his own wand into a design in the air. Hermione jumped back, stumbling, as the force of his shield charm prevented her from approaching.

"What do you need that for? I don't even have my wand!" She shouted, hands clenched with rage.

He chuckled. "You need to listen and watch. Without any distractions. Now, as I was saying, I created a powerful spell. While we are in here, we are still moving forward, but Time has stopped for those on the outside. To put it simply, we could stay in this room for fifty years, and when we left, everything would be as it was. We would return to the very second, _the exact moment_, when we entered the room. Our bodies would return to their younger state, but our memories of the time spent here would remain. I have spent a lifetime here, dealing with what was lost in that war, coping with my role in what happened. Finding peace."

Hermione could only stare as she struggled to understand what he was saying. She was amazed in spite of herself. "Malfoy…that is…amazing. I never would have thought you capable of such incredible…" She caught herself, clapping a hand to her mouth.

He laughed heartily. "It's okay, Hermione. Maybe if I hadn't been such an arrogant little git in school, consumed with the beliefs of a madman, I would have done slightly better in my studies."

Hermione felt a smile creep across her face and quickly forced it away. She ran her hands through her brown hair in exasperation.

"Listen, Malfoy, I've dealt with my demons. I've got it under control. So thanks anyway, I appreciate the thought, but you can just give me back my wand and open the door. I have a class to teach."

"Your class isn't going anywhere." Draco said gently. "And neither are you. Now, have a seat…" He waved his wand and a comfortable looking armchair, similar to the ones in the Griffindor common room, appeared next to her. Hermione glared at him.

"I'll stand, thanks." She clenched and unclenched her fists, feeling her anger building to almost uncontrollable level. Draco flicked his wand and murmured something, and instantly she felt the same sense of peace she had felt the previous day flood over her. She sank down in the chair, tears in her eyes.

"Malfoy…why are you doing this to me?" He didn't answer her. He smiled at her, sadly, and then turned and began walking away. "Malfoy? Where are you going?" He didn't answer. Hermione wanted to call out to him again, but suddenly the room was changing around her. The stone walls expanded and lengthened, the ceiling flew upward, doors appeared, suits of armor, the shadowy images of people…and with a gasp of horror, Hermione knew where and when she was. The corridor, _that corridor_, the night of the battle, the night that she had not been able to save Ron Weasley from dying.


End file.
